Pioneer Life in Upper Canada

Aboriginal Peoples Helping the Pioneers

Corn

Many of the Native peoples were excellent
farmers and taught the early settlers how to make the best use of the
land. The women of the Iroquois Nation had the very important
responsibility for farming and taught the settlers how to grow strong,
healthy corn. Choosing the strongest and largest kernels for
planting was important and fertilizing the soil with fish helped the
plants to grow tall and healthy. This was wonderful for the
settlers because they learned to use the corn for many things.

The Native people showed the settlers how
to make good use of the space available by planting other seeds with the
corn. They planted beans under the corn stalks and the beans grew
up the stalks, using them for support. Pumpkins and squash were
also planted under the corn and had lots of room to spread. This
method of farming was used for many years.

Once the corn was ripe and ready to pick,
the settlers then learned how to cook the delicious vegetable and how to
dry the kernels for grinding. The Native people taught the
settlers to grind the corn into a kind of flour called cornmeal which
was used for making pudding, porridge and bread. The Native people
taught them to make bannock, a type of bread that was enjoyed by all.
Early settlers were also shown how to dry corn
in cribs and use it later for feeding the animals. They also
showed settlers how to heat the kernels for a special treat. We
call it popcorn!

Source: Long Ago Before I Was Born:
A Look At Life in Early Settler Times - A Unit for Grade 3